Audio recording challenges -- anybody used a blimp on camera or with wireless remote?

[Garfield]

As a wildlife videographer wind is my nemesis when it comes to audio recording. I'm currently using a Nikon Z8/Z9 that have notoriously bad pre-amps, so have ordered a Tascam CA-XLF2d and am looking for a quality shotgun mic to use in a blimp that's either going to be attached to the cage on my Z9, or possibly setup on separate tripod and transmitted wirelessly.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this?

 

[realspeed]

no sorry. what I use is a Gutmann "deadcat muffler" because they have to longest hairs have found to cheat the wind noise. not perfect but still does a lot better than other types of wind cheater

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I did a test with a desktop fan . hear the different 0.16 seconds into the video

 

[Calson]

The mic needs to be mounted where it is outside the frame of the camera lens and so its length is going to be shorter than the normal shotgun mic used with a boom and a blimp.
Ideally if the mic is self powered with an internal battery it simplifies everything. It allows a 3.5mm plug to be inserted in the camera to provide a synced audio with the video footage. Even if using an external mic it is easier to drop it in with the video if there is a audio in sync with the video to use as a reference.

Mics to consider include the Sennheiser MKE 600 super cardiod 10" mic that sells for $330 and the Audio Technica AT8024 that sells for $250. Easy to find a dead cat to fit these.

A blimp is for use with a mic in a stand or hand held or attached to a boom and so a standalone setup to manage in addition to the camera. The Rycote website provides information on which blimps work with which mics and the cost to fit them out. For example, the Rycote WS 4 kit I own is good for Audio-Technica AT 8035 (BP 4029), Rode NT4 (single shank), Sennheiser MKH 418, 418S, and Sony ECM 680S. It is designed to fit microphones with lengths from 9.7 up to 11" (246 to 280mm). It sells for $600 and this includes a dead cat wind muff.

 

[Garfield]

Thanks for the responses. I have a Rode Videomic NTG mic with dead cat, but find it pretty well useless for cutting wind noise so am looking for something much more effective and from what I've read the ultimate solution is a blimp. The Rode Blimp is big -- 19" x 4.5" diameter I believe, so am not sure if it is even camera mountable, but if there's a way to do it I'll figure it out. Failing that, I'll have to explore a wireless setup with my DGI wireless mics.

 

[Nimi]

As a wildlife videographer wind is my nemesis when it comes to audio recording. I'm currently using a Nikon Z8/Z9 that have notoriously bad pre-amps, so have ordered a Tascam CA-XLF2d and am looking for a quality shotgun mic to use in a blimp that's either going to be attached to the cage on my Z9, or possibly setup on separate tripod and transmitted wirelessly.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this?

I've given up on eliminating wind noise. The editor I use (PP) is pretty effective removing it either by cutting it off with a high pass filter or denoising.

 

[Garfield]

I've given up on eliminating wind noise. The editor I use (PP) is pretty effective removing it either by cutting it off with a high pass filter or denoising.

Interesting Nimi. Have you every used a blimp?

 

[Nimi]

Interesting Nimi. Have you every used a blimp?

I have. It helped, but the hiss continues. The size isn't always practical for me. I'm also off body, into a 32 bit recorder that gives me a more pliable file.

 

[Amata]

As a wildlife videographer wind is my nemesis when it comes to audio recording. I'm currently using a Nikon Z8/Z9 that have notoriously bad pre-amps, so have ordered a Tascam CA-XLF2d and am looking for a quality shotgun mic to use in a blimp that's either going to be attached to the cage on my Z9, or possibly setup on separate tripod and transmitted wirelessly.

Buying in quality equipment, such as the Tascam CA-XLF2d and a dependable shotgun mic, is critical for overcoming audio hurdles in wildlife cinematography.

 

[Garfield]

Buying in quality equipment, such as the Tascam CA-XLF2d and a dependable shotgun mic, is critical for overcoming audio hurdles in wildlife cinematography.

Agreed -- I'm considering a Seinheiser 416 mic which is supposed to perform well in higher frequencies (bird songs etc). Do you have any/other suggestions for a shotgun mic for distant wildlife?

 

[realspeed]

why just have a directional microphone only? I use the Azden SMX-30v microphone which does both, stereo or use dial for directional or both together.
example recording birds at a distance with it, no need to carry two microphone. I chose this over the well known make because the audio cable to the camcorder is detachable. so if it gets damaged just replace it, others are fixed into the microphone. Not sthe cheapest @around £250 I think and well worth it

example recording birds at a distance with it,

orf

with deadcat over sponge that it comes with

without deadcat showing directional and stereo microphone

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I would not recommend it unless I was totally happy with it

 

[Garfield]

Thanks, but I'm looking for something with more sensitivity and selectivity vs. ambiance. I can always overlay clean ambient sounds later in post if needed. (I use Zoom H1n for that).

 

[realspeed]

oh well I tried. has everything I want from it

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[Calson]

For distant wildlife the best setup is with a mic and a parabolic dish. The dish amplifies the sound for the mic and with less gain needed less noise is going to be recorded.

A shotgun is designed to pick up as little side and rear noise as possible but there is no sound amplification from the mic. A 32-bit sound recorder like the Sound Devices MixPre-3 II allows one to increase the gain in post and this makes a great deal of difference in getting a cleaner recording.

A light stand is a good base for a microphone and then I use a 10 foot XLR cable from the mic to the camera or a shorter cable to the recorder that I attach to the light stand. Having audio recorded with the camera's internal mics is useful for syncing the audio for the external sound recorder later in post.

There are many websites that provide information on shotgun versus parabolic dishes for field recording.

 

[uday592]

Does the Tuscan CA-XLR2d work well with Seinheiser MKE 600 microphone

 

[uday592]

any recommendation on headphones for Nikon Z9

 

[Alistair]

Thanks for the responses. I have a Rode Videomic NTG mic with dead cat, but find it pretty well useless for cutting wind noise so am looking for something much more effective and from what I've read the ultimate solution is a blimp. The Rode Blimp is big -- 19" x 4.5" diameter I believe, so am not sure if it is even camera mountable, but if there's a way to do it I'll figure it out. Failing that, I'll have to explore a wireless setup with my DGI wireless mics.

You are using the Rhode ws11 with the NTG? And you are using the 150Hz pm filter on the NTG? Still not good enough?

 

[uday592]

I have never used a blimp but it seems have at around 1lb. Any recommendation on mufflers?

 

[uday592]

I have Sennheiser mke600 like to know if its is worth buying MKH416 for recording bird songs?

 

[Garfield]

UPDATE:

I haven't gone with blimp yet but am still considering it. But I did acquire a Seinnheiser 416 which I've connected to a Zoom F3 that's mounted on my Z's Tilta cage. I'm using a generic combo foam+dead cat on the mic that I got from Amazon which fits the 416. The 416 is held by Smallrig's shotgun mic holder mounted to a cold shoe on the Tilta cage and is connected to the the F3's channel 1 through an XLR cable. The F3 provides phantom power to the 416 from its 2 AA batteries. The mono signal is outputted from the F3 through the line-out to the Z9 using a regular TRS cable so the Z9 records the mono signal on both channels. I'm not recording on the F3 because I don't want any synching headaches. I realize I'm not getting the benefit of 32bit recording when connected this way, but not having the need for gain controls greatly simplifies things.

I used this setup for the first time yesterday shooting eagles. I need more experience but so far I really like what I'm hearing. The 416 is no replacement for a parabolic dish of course, but it's REALLY senstive and picks up everything, even very soft sounds when carefully walking around the tripod. But that's just fine -- bird calls can can be soft/faint so sensitivity is what I want. I was amazed when I got home and reviewed the recordings to hear some faint red-headed woodpecker calls in the distance that I did not hear when on site.

The only problem I've encountered is while I can use the F3's tone calibration function to set the recording levels on the Z9, when I switch to the 416 the signal drops drastically for some reason (seems to need a lot of gain), so I have to manually set (i.e. boost) the output levels on the F3 (currently 0db but may have to increase) to achieve acceptable recording levels on the Z9. Of course the Z9's attenuator must be turned off.

I'm going to test this setup before investigating the blimp option.

I'm also considering buying a parabolic dish to set on a tripod and plugging it in (or wirelessly connecting it) to the F3's second channel.

 

[Nimi]

UPDATE:

I haven't gone with blimp yet but am still considering it. But I did acquire a Seinnheiser 416 which I've connected to a Zoom F3 that's mounted on my Z's Tilta cage. I'm using a generic combo foam+dead cat on the mic that I got from Amazon which fits the 416. The 416 is held by Smallrig's shotgun mic holder mounted to a cold shoe on the Tilta cage and is connected to the the F3's channel 1 through an XLR cable. The F3 provides phantom power to the 416 from its 2 AA batteries. The mono signal is outputted from the F3 through the line-out to the Z9 using a regular TRS cable so the Z9 records the mono signal on both channels. I'm not recording on the F3 because I don't want any synching headaches. I realize I'm not getting the benefit of 32bit recording when connected this way, but not having the need for gain controls greatly simplifies things.

I used this setup for the first time yesterday shooting eagles. I need more experience but so far I really like what I'm hearing. The 416 is no replacement for a parabolic dish of course, but it's REALLY senstive and picks up everything, even very soft sounds when carefully walking around the tripod. But that's just fine -- bird calls can can be soft/faint so sensitivity is what I want. I was amazed when I got home and reviewed the recordings to hear some faint red-headed woodpecker calls in the distance that I did not hear when on site.

The only problem I've encountered is while I can use the F3's tone calibration function to set the recording levels on the Z9, when I switch to the 416 the signal drops drastically for some reason (seems to need a lot of gain), so I have to manually set (i.e. boost) the output levels on the F3 (currently 0db but may have to increase) to achieve acceptable recording levels on the Z9. Of course the Z9's attenuator must be turned off.

I'm going to test this setup before investigating the blimp option.

I'm also considering buying a parabolic dish to set on a tripod and plugging it in (or wirelessly connecting it) to the F3's second channel.

I seem to recall reading about this issue, having to do with the camera "taking over" when the F3 is used as a "pass-through," acting as a power supply to the mic more than a pre-amp. Simple to test: record on the F3, see if gain is required too.

 

[Garfield]

I have Sennheiser mke600 like to know if its is worth buying MKH416 for recording bird songs?

The 600 seems to be a "modernized" 416, but I went with the latter due to its reputation for sensitivity even though it's very old. (It helped that I got a good deal on a used one though.) I really can't say which is "better" -- most of the comparisons on youtube are of studio voice recordings which are not what I'm doing.

 

[Garfield]

I seem to recall reading about this issue, having to do with the camera "taking over" when the F3 is used as a "pass-through," acting as a power supply to the mic more than a pre-amp. Simple to test: record on the F3, see if gain is required too.

Good idea Nimi -- thanks!

 

[uday592]

As a wildlife videographer wind is my nemesis when it comes to audio recording. I'm currently using a Nikon Z8/Z9 that have notoriously bad pre-amps, so have ordered a Tascam CA-XLF2d and am looking for a quality shotgun mic to use in a blimp that's either going to be attached to the cage on my Z9, or possibly setup on separate tripod and transmitted wirelessly.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this?

Did you get a chance to use Tascam CA-XLF2d with a microphone on the Z8 or Z9 camera? I am considering buying Tuscan CA-XLF2d for use with Sennheiser MKE600 microphone and mounting on Z8

 

[Garfield]

Did you get a chance to use Tascam CA-XLF2d with a microphone on the Z8 or Z9 camera? I am considering buying Tuscan CA-XLF2d for use with Sennheiser MKE600 microphone and mounting on Z8

Long story short is no - I ended up with a Zoom F3. It was much less expensive and offers a lot more value and functionality for the money with it's on-board 32bit recording capability. It doesn't need gain controls and provides phantom power to my Sennheiser 416. It's also smaller and easier to mount, but there's no mic holder. I'm using it in pass-through mode so audio is being recorded by the camera -- no post synching needed. So far it seems to work quite well.

 

[marc]

Nice setup @Garfield

Although it might prove a tad ungainly for me to handhold w/my Z9&400TC from a safari vehicle filming cheetah hunts, etc.

Have you tried it hand holding, if so how is the balance?